


Words On My Skin

by hma1313



Series: The Soulmate AUs [2]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Middle School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 07:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6275815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hma1313/pseuds/hma1313
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey’s 11 when he starts noticing the words appearing on his body. He has no idea what they mean, except that this isn’t normal and shouldn’t be happening. That’s how he ends up in the middle school library before school, where he finds a book called A History of the Soulmate System, and everything starts to make more sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words On My Skin

Mickey’s cleaning his teeth before school when he notices the first words.

_Searching desperately._

He stares at the them in disbelief as the toothpaste froth falls from his mouth and into the sink. Was this one of his brother’s idea of a joke? Had they attacked him with a permanent marker during his sleep? He spits out the rest of the toothpaste, places his brush back in the holder and runs water over his forearm where the words are, scrubbing at them with the slither of soap that’s left in the soap dish, but it doesn’t do anything – it’s not like any ink he’s ever seen before.

The words aren’t going anywhere, so he’s thankful that it’s winter and that means he can wear a hoody indoors without getting any strange looks. He also ties a bandage round them, because he can always claim that he cut his arm on something if anyone does ask.

Mickey goes to school, and tries to forget about the words that have appeared from nowhere on his arm.

* * *

Two weeks later, the words are still there, and they’re now accompanied by some others on his other arm.

_Don’t you ever wonder what it feels like?_

He wants to ask someone about this, because this isn’t normal. The only words his dad has on him are tattoos, and Mickey knows these words weren’t caused by a tattoo gun, as he knows he would remember that. Mandy hasn’t woken up to be covered in words, and he’s pretty sure his brothers haven’t either. But at the same time, he doesn’t want them to think he’s a freak or something, so he keeps it quiet.

* * *

_It’s a different kind of danger._

The third set of words appear over winter break, when Iggy drags a pitiful branch in front outside and throws a piece of tinsel over it in lieu of a Christmas tree. Mickey locks himself in the bathroom and stares at the words that have suddenly appeared on his thigh, wondering if there’s any way he can get rid of the stupid things.

* * *

The day that school starts again, the fourth set of words appear.

_Try telling me no._

Mickey decides enough was enough and for the first time in his life sets off to school early, so he can go to the library and try to figure out what the hell this is.

 

The library is a confusing place. For a middle school library in the south side, it’s surprisingly well-stocked, and Mickey spends about five minutes staring at the chart in front of him trying to decipher what the all the different sections mean before deciding that it’s probably an idea to start in the history section, because whatever this is, it’s not something that happens nowadays.

900, 901, 902…

908: History with respect to groups of people.

This feels like the right place, so Mickey starts looking at the titles of the books, seeing if anything catches his eye. He’s almost at the end of the row when he notices an old, red hardback book tucked behind a book called _The Native Americans_ , and he pulls it out.

_A History of the Soulmate System._

Intrigued, he opens it, starting to read the introduction.

_From the year 500 to 1900, the soulmate system was in place across the world. Intended to match people with those who would love them unconditionally for the rest of time, it was abolished in 1900 under the direction of Queen Victoria of England due to it being “an archaic system no longer needed”._

“Can I help?” the librarian appears at Mickey’s side, peering curiously over his shoulder to look at what he’s reading.

“I – uh.” Mickey snaps the book shut and looks around, trying to assess the situation. “Can I take this?”

“You mean borrow it from the library? Sure. Come this way.”

Mickey follows her across to the desk, where she takes the book from him and scans it, stamping it with a due date and handing it back to him. “Enjoy.”

Mickey runs home after that, forgetting all about the math test he has that afternoon that he really should be taking.

* * *

_But we could make a spark together._

They appear as Mickey’s lying on his bed reading the book, right in front of his eyes on his hand. He tries to ignore them and goes back to reading about how soulmates are decided.

… _there are several different deciding factors for whether two people are soulmates or not. The two people should live within a ten-mile radius of each other, so that they can easily find the one that they are meant to be with. The two should be willing to put the other before themselves, every time. The two should stand by each other no matter what and work together in perfect harmony in the bedroom._

_Soulmates are decided by the Oracle, an All-Knowing Seer who can look into the deepest desires of people’s hearts and match them with a suitable person. However, the Oracle sometimes does not have a say in this: sometimes soulmates are pre-decided, a remnant of the experiments of the Old Kingdom, when physicians played around with time, space, love and fate. These soulmates are known as Truemates as their love predates the soulmate system itself, and their love is one of the most powerful forces in the world._

**_How did soulmates find each other?_ **

_Soulmates found each other mostly by luck, but there are also several different factors that allow soulmates to find each other:_

  * _Matching designs. These were the most common, and were small designs about one inch in size that were on people’s wrists._
  * _The second most common were matching numbers, a series of six numbers on the inside wrist that would match with your soulmate._
  * _The third and least common way were words that would appear on the soulmate’s body at various points in their lives. Associated with Truemates, these words were said to be a representation of the pair’s lives, how they felt about each other and how they would meet. [More details in Chapter 7: Truemates]_



Mickey puts the book aside and stares at the words that had etched themselves into the delicate skin of his hand just moments before. Was it possible that he was a living remnant of a system that had been abolished over a hundred years ago?

**_Chapter 7: Truemates_ **

_Pre-decided before the soulmate system was in place, Truemates are the truest form of soulmates: hence the term that was first used in the 10 th century. They are extremely rare – it is said that there are less than twenty pairs of Truemates per decade, something that has been documented since records began. Regardless of the abolishment of the soulmate system in 1900, Truemates will remain soulmates if they are born after 1900, whereas others will never know if they met their soulmate or not – indeed, many won’t have a soulmate at all._

_The words that appear on Truemates skin are different for every pair, and can appear anywhere on the body. Typically speaking, they start appearing when the Truemates are between 10 and 14 years old, and stop appearing when the pair meet for the first time. When the pair eventually meet, they will instantly know that the other is their soulmate, compared to others that have to compare their marks to confirm whether they are or not. At the time of publication (1947) Truemates continued to exist despite the abolishment of the system nearly fifty years previously, and it is presumed that this will continue for many years to come._

Well, shit.

* * *

It’s Easter before more words appear.

_Just a little bit of love to get us through._

Mickey smiles when he notices the words inked into his stomach, before reaching for his t-shirt. People have started to notice the words on him, but most put it down to Mickey being addicted to inking Sharpie onto his skin rather than anything else (he carries one round, just to keep up the pretence). Terry once made a comment about “the gay words on his arms” but Mickey ignored him and went to his room to read more of the Soulmates book, which he’s got out of the library for an extended period now, and doesn’t have any real plans of giving it back.

* * *

_You don’t need to say I love you to say I love you._

Appears on Mickey’s 12th birthday, when Iggy’s just handed him a beer and the words start to form on Mickey’s right shoulder. Iggy stares in disbelief, watching the words wind around his younger brother’s skin. “What the fuck?” he eventually blurts out, because he can’t be that drunk already.

“It’s, er… complicated,” Mickey says, and runs into the bathroom to admire the new words.

 

Later on, when no one’s looking, he places the soulmate book on Iggy’s bed, in the hope that it will get the message across.

* * *

_I will love you forever more._

It’s written right across his back, and it takes Mickey a whole week to notice it. He spends about an hour when everyone else is out admiring it in Mandy’s full length mirror, reaching around to tenderly run his fingers over the words that appear from nowhere.

* * *

_Make your move on me._

Mickey wanders back into middle school and towards the sixth grade classroom, because apparently he has to resit the entire grade. The words are wound around his ring finger this time, and Mickey knows that that means that he’ll probably meet his soulmate today – the soulmate book says that _“when words appear on a Truemate’s ring finger, it is said that they will meet their soulmate within twenty-four hours”._

“You know, for someone who spends so much time in here, I’m surprised you’re having to resit the grade,” the librarian says as lunch time when Mickey’s hiding in the history section again, nose buried in the book that he could probably recite at any given moment. “You like that book, don’t you?”

“It’s interesting,” Mickey mumbles, turning a page.

“You know, I’ve read that book myself,” she says. “And I’ve noticed the words on you. You’re a Truemate, aren’t you?”

“You don’t know shit,” Mickey hisses, throwing the book down, picking up his bag and running out of the library. He doesn’t stop running until he reaches another of his hideout spots, the old tree in the corner of the school yard. Except some kid is already there, some kid with red hair who Mickey vaguely recognises from the neighbourhood but has never actually spoken to before. “Fucking move,” Mickey says once he’s close enough. The kid looks up and –

Oh.

_…a pull so strong it can’t be resisted…_

Mickey’s not entirely sure when he starts kissing the redheaded boy, but it’s happening and it’s everything Mickey’s ever wanted in life. It’s chaotic and not really that controlled or balanced, more teeth than tongue, sloppy because this is the first time Mickey’s ever kissed someone like this, but it’s perfect and Mickey wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m Ian,” the redheaded kid says when the kiss finally ends. “Ian Gallagher.”

“Mickey Milkovich,” Mickey says. “You know what this means, right?”

“Not really, no.”

“Okay.” Mickey thinks to the library, where he left the book on the table in the history section. He holds out his hand to Ian, who laces his fingers into Mickey’s, smiling at the gesture. “Follow me.”

The book is still in the library, exactly where Mickey left it. Mickey sits Ian down and starts to explain, reading passages from the book and also in his own words. Ian’s fascinated, soaking in all this new information that perfectly explains everything that’s been happening in his life for the past year, and he occasionally cuts Mickey’s speech off by leaning across the table and kissing him for a moment or two, because even though he’s only just met Mickey, he knows that he loves him, and will do forever.

If the librarian notices, she doesn’t comment.

* * *

They’re married at sixteen due to the Truemates law that was never repealed, and by the time they’re eighteen, it seems everyone knows their name. They go on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, they’re interviewed by countless radio stations and magazines, they fly to the UK to go on the Graham Norton Show, they do a documentary, Mickey writes a book, they move to the north side into a house with a white picket fence and a pool. They adopt two kids, Jake and Yevgeny, who both fly through school and go on to get degrees, high flying careers and families of their own. Terry complains bitterly about their relationship but can’t trouble them because he’s locked up for life, Ian’s family is supportive throughout and so, it seems, is most of the world.

On their tenth wedding anniversary, they walk into a tattoo parlour to get one final matching tattoo. It’s inked over their hearts, Ian has it in Mickey’s handwriting and Mickey has it in Ian’s.

_What you and I have makes me free._

They go home that night and tell their sons a story, a story of words, first kisses and a book that brought them together.

Mickey still has _A History of the Soulmate System._ He hasn’t given it back to the library. 

**Author's Note:**

> All of the quotes that appear on Mickey's skin (with the exception of the final one he and Ian get tattooed, which is a line Mickey says in the show) are actually song lyrics. In order of appearance:  
> \+ "Searching desperately" - Alkaline by Time Flies  
> \+ "Don't you ever wonder what it feels like" - Waves by Tonight Alive  
> \+ "It's a different kind of danger" - Delilah by Florence and the Machine  
> \+ "Try telling me no" - Conqueror by Estelle  
> \+ "But we could make a spark together" - Untouchable by Tritonal  
> \+ "Just a little bit of love to get us through" - West End Kids by New Politics  
> \+ "You don't need to say I love you to say I love you" - for him. by Troye Sivan  
> \+ "I will love you forever more" - Fears by Twin Wild  
> \+ "Make your move on me"- Move Like U Stole It by ZZ Ward  
> [Here's a playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/1137864142/playlist/52u9NPzRqz4nFhA3YFW64W) if you're interested.
> 
> hang out with me on [tumblr](http://pllsetskyonice.tumblr.com/) for a questionable mix of fandoms and ships


End file.
